1950s Korea Map Reversible Sukajan, Eagle over Peninsula on Royal Blue, Roaring Tiger on Rose Satin, TTS Tokyo Zip
1950s Korea Map Reversible Sukajan, Eagle over Peninsula on Royal Blue, Roaring Tiger on Rose Satin, TTS Tokyo Zip
- Dispatch
- Prepared and sent from Tokyo within 7–14 days, often sooner, or as arranged
- Arrival
- Vereinigte Staaten · usually 4–7 days after dispatch, insured and tracked
- Import
Duties and customs · View the estimate
A guide for this piece: about $245, based on the 10% US charge on the declared value of goods made in Japan.
The final figure is set by US Customs and depends on where the piece was made and the kind of object it is. Many antiques over a century old carry no ordinary duty; most jewellery and leather goods add a single-digit rate.
With EMS, any charge is collected by your postal service on delivery. For pieces of significant value we can often arrange duties prepaid before dispatch.
How the estimate is reached · Ask for a figure on this piece
- Sizing
- Measured flat by hand, pit to pit and length, in centimetres · Find your size · Ask before you buy
- Replies
- Within one Tokyo business day · Ask the curator team
- Guarantee
- Authenticity guaranteed · How we grade
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A Korean War-era reversible souvenir jacket in electric royal blue, its back embroidered with an eagle spreading its wings over a map of Korea from Pyongyang to Pusan, turning to a quilted rose satin side with a roaring tiger.
The Piece
The souvenir jacket was born in occupied Japan, where tailors around the bases at Yokosuka, Tachikawa and beyond embroidered satin bombers for American servicemen. When the Korean War began in 1950, the same workshops added the peninsula to their repertoire, and the Korea map jacket became the most personal of all souvenirs: a wearable record of where a man had served. Panmunjom, stitched in red on this map, only entered the world's vocabulary with the armistice talks of 1951 to 1953, which places the jacket firmly in that period or just after.
The blue side is the showpiece. 'Korea' is written in red chain-stitch script across the shoulders; below it a crested eagle lands on a white-outlined map that names Pyongyang, Wonsan, Panmunjom, Seoul, Inchon, Taejon, Kunsan, Taegu and Pusan, framed by stylised waves. On the chest a pair of dragons coil inside wreaths of pastel clouds, and white arrow embroidery points to the slash pockets. The raglan sleeves are ivory satin with a fine gold piping.
Reverse it and the jacket becomes something quite different: a diamond-quilted rose-pink satin with roaring tiger heads at the chest and a full crouching tiger on the back, rendered in gold, black and white thread with a flowering branch. Navy and cream striped rib knits frame the collar, cuffs and hem, and the zip is a two-way-pull TTS stamped Tokyo, the hardware correct for a reversible jacket of this age.
Measured flat, the chest is 59.5 cm and the length 57 cm, with a raglan sleeve of 89.5 cm from the centre back. That is a genuinely wearable modern medium to large, which is rare for early souvenir jackets, many of which were cut very small.
Details
- Designer: Unsigned Japanese souvenir workshop
- Season: Korean War era, early to mid 1950s (Panmunjom on the map)
- Model / ref: Reversible Korea map souvenir jacket (sukajan)
- Material: Acetate satin with quilted padding; rayon thread embroidery; knit rib trims
- Colour: Royal blue with ivory sleeves / rose pink with ivory sleeves
- Made in: Japan
- Tagged size: No size label (fits a modern M to L)
- Measurements: Chest (pit to pit) 59.5 cm · Length 57 cm · Sleeve from centre back 89.5 cm
- Included: Jacket only
Condition
- Strong colour on both sides, with the blue satin still vivid.
- Embroidery complete, with a few loose thread ends on the rose side, as pictured.
- Light pilling and soiling to the knit cuffs; one cuff shows a small pulled stitch.
- Some creasing and light marks to the ivory sleeves consistent with age.
- TTS zip runs smoothly.
Condition grade AB on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.
Authenticity & Care
The labels, materials, stitching, hardware and construction are examined together and documented in Japan before dispatch; anything that cannot be confirmed is stated plainly in the description. Every piece carries the Japonista authenticity guarantee. Hang on a broad padded hanger away from sun and damp; any cleaning should go to a specialist familiar with vintage acetate satin and hand embroidery.
Delivery from Japan
Packed by hand in Japan and shipped insured and tracked by EMS or an equivalent express service. Import duties and taxes, where applicable, are payable on arrival. Every sale is final; please ask anything before you buy, and see our published policy.
Every figure above is taken by hand with the garment laid flat, in centimetres. Lay a shirt or jacket you already love beside them and allow a centimetre or two of margin, the quiet safeguard on a final sale. Our size guide to tops and jackets turns pit-to-pit figures into US, UK, EU and Japanese sizes, and for anything it leaves open the curator team replies within one Tokyo business day.
Considered offers are welcome through Send an Offer, and each one is reviewed personally. Pieces over $1,000 may be reserved over several payments with Layaway Privilege™.
Continue browsing: Japan Luxury Archive
Your Own Wartime Souvenir
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